Section 2653.

(a) An applicant for a license as a physical therapist who was issued a diploma by a physical therapist education program that is not an approved program and is not located in the United States shall meet all of the following requirements in order to be licensed as a physical therapist:

(1) Furnish documentary evidence satisfactory to the board, that he or she has completed the equivalent professional degree to that issued by a United States accredited physical therapist education program in a physical therapist education program that entitles the applicant to practice as a physical therapist in the country where the diploma was issued. The physical therapy education received by the applicant shall meet the criteria set forth in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 2650. The board may require an applicant to submit documentation of his or her education to a credentials evaluation service for review and a report to the board.

(2) Pass the written examination required by Section 2636. The requirements to pass the written examination shall not apply to an applicant who at the time of application has passed, to the satisfaction of the board, an examination for licensure in another state, district, or territory of the United States, that is, in the opinion of the board, comparable to the examination given in this state.

(3) Complete a period of clinical service under the direct and immediate supervision of a physical therapist licensed by the board which does not exceed nine months in a location approved by the board, in a manner satisfactory to the board. The applicant shall have passed the written examination required in subdivision (b) prior to commencing the period of clinical service. The board shall require the supervising physical therapist to evaluate the applicant and report his or her findings to the board. The board may in its discretion waive all or part of the required clinical service pursuant to guidelines set forth in its regulations. During the period of clinical service until he or she is issued a license as a physical therapist by the board, the applicant shall be identified as a "physical therapist license applicant."

(4) An applicant for licensure under this subdivision, whose application is based on a certificate issued by a physical therapist licensing authority of another state, may be required to pass an oral examination given by the board, and to file a statement of past work activity.

(b) Nothing contained in this section shall prohibit the board from disapproving any foreign physical therapist education program or from denying the applicant if, in the opinion of the board, the instruction received by the applicant or the courses were not equivalent to that required by this chapter. If the applicant does not qualify to take the physical therapist examination, his or her education may be evaluated and the applicant may be eligible to take the physical therapist assistant examination.

(Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 829, Sec. 35. Effective January 1, 1997.)